Long-time “Voice of the Kings,” Bob Miller (right) presented newly-acquired left wing Simon Gagne with his jersey number 12 during a media luncheon at the team’s offices in El Segundo, California.
Photo: Gann Matsuda

EL SEGUNDO, CA — After signing a two-year, $7 million contract with the Los Angeles Kings on July 2, 2011, veteran left wing Simon Gagne was in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Karine, looking for a new home for his family, which includes two-year-old son Matthew, and five-month old daughter Lily Ann. But he also took some time to stop by the Kings’ El Segundo offices at the Toyota Sports Center, where he met the local media.

“We’re here for two days, two and a half days,” said Gagne. “We’re not here on vacation. We’re definitely here to spend time looking for a place. We left the kids at home with my mom and her mom right now. We’re spending as much time as we can to find a place for our family.”

“Right now, we like what we see, we like the area a lot,” added Gagne. “We’re really excited about it. Hopefully today, we’ll find what we like, and get a little more time to look around.” Read more of this post

The Los Angeles Kings signed left wing Simon Gagne to a two-year deal on July 2, 2011.
Photo: National Hockey League

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi was not what one would consider to be truthful on June 26, when he said that the Kings would not be interested in pursuing the top players in the unrestricted free agent market.

“It’s safe to say that there’s a potential for a midrange move,” he insisted.

As it turned out, Lombardi hoodwinked the media into believing that. But once the July 1 signing frenzy began, it became obvious that his sights were set much, much higher.

Indeed, when the 9:00 AM Pacific time opening of the free agent frenzy began, Lombardi, Kings Governor and President/Chief Executive Officer of the Anschutz Entertainment GroupTim Leiweke, the Kings coaching staff, and others were already in Mississauga, Ontario, where they made a live, in-person presentation to the prize of the 2011 unrestricted free agent class, center Brad Richards, and his agent, Pat Morris, at the headquarters of Newport Sports Management. Read more of this post

LOS ANGELES — The 2011 National Hockey League Entry Draft, held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 24-25, was expected to be quite uneventful for the Los Angeles Kings, who did not have a pick in the first round after they traded it to the Edmonton Oilers at the trade deadline in the deal that brought winger Dustin Penner to the Kings.

Logo courtesy: National Hockey League

Despite that, the Kings were more than optimistic about the prospects they were able to bring into the fold with their picks in rounds 2-7 on Saturday, June 25.

“Today was a long day, especially for the first time for us, as a group, to go through yesterday without a pick—that was an eternity,” Futa added. “To be active [in the first round the last handful of years], and then to see things fall the way they did [this year], we were thrilled.” Read more of this post

BLOCKBUSTER TRADE: Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi and Philadelphia Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren got the drop on the rest in terms of draft day deals by completing a draft-eve, blockbuster trade that sent center Mike Richards to the Kings in exchange for right wing Wayne Simmonds, center prospect Brayden Schenn, and a second round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Also includes details on Ryan Smyth requesting to be traded and about the Kings and the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Mike Richards
Photo: Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES — With the Stanley Cup Finals and the National Hockey League’s annual awards extravaganza behind us, at this time of year, attention turns to the annual NHL Entry Draft, which is often accompanied by a slew of draft day trades.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — While fans of the Los Angeles Kings are up in arms over their team’s inability to improve themselves to this point in the 2010 off-season, venting their frustrations in no uncertain terms on virtually every Kings-related forum on the World Wide Web, life does indeed go on.

The logos of the Los Angeles Kings, the 29 other National Hockey League teams, and of the National Hockey League, are trademarks of their respective rightsholders and are used with permission of the National Hockey League.